BigVern

Mentioned this in another thread as IMHO a bit overdone and the flickering could trigger issues in people vulnerable to visual disturbance such as optical (aura) migraine etc. I will try this fix but ultimately something the devs need to review having in the final build.

Thanks Jason I will try that. Agree about the brightness. Not as bad as TSW3 "adaptive" lighting but could do with toning down, or user controlled, gamma slider or something.

At the moment when you pick a train from the list you have no real idea which location it's in. As much as I like the challenge of trying to get through Lazy and surrounding locations, there are many more places even within the demo to see. So an interactive map of trains moving on it could help decide which (available) train to choose. Trains currently under control of another player could be shown in black, those available to take over in green, with an arrow to show direction of travel. Depending on whether or not we can save in SP (still waiting an answer 🙂 ) might have its uses there too, as if we can't save the run we will need to pick a train at or approaching the location we left off.

Absolutely and it is great to have a playtest that potentially identifies such issues which can hopefully be rectified before release.

Not a bug report, more of an observation. Does anyone else find the sunlight reflecting and flickering on the cab side window especially the EU and EP07 locos a little distracting and annoying? It could also affect people prone to visual disturbances (migraine) or epilepsy*. IMHO it needs to be toned down to at least remove the flicker, with an option to turn it off altogether. * I don't suffer from epilepsy and wouldn't be gaming if I did, but do get occasional migraines and thinking of anyone else who does.

I'm pretty certain it's the estimated drive time left on that service.

Presumably in the full release and especially SP we will get a more authentic 24 hour timetable. I'm hoping there will be overnight trains, including couchettes and sleeping cars that we can operate!

Yes I'm trying to divide my time but the EU07 is so addictive... BTW Sean are you and Schnauzahpowahz one and the same or is that a different Sean?

Thanks Breb - was just about to jump in for a drive. Strange isn't it, I thought this would be a 10 minute distraction from TSW but I can't get enough of it - driving and signalman - haven't touched TSW in days now.

If anyone just wants to practice, I found the Aussie server very quiet at lunchtime (UK). I was the only live player on there, giving me a chance to generally play around in my first "NX" style signal box to learn the ropes, so to speak. I now my limitations and have no intention (yet) of dropping myself in at Lazy on a busy server. This is of course where a SP dispatcher mode would be great, you could even have it so users need to qualify or "pass out" in SP mode before unlocking in MP - either number of hours working the box or some sort of performance assessment (or both).

The servers now seem to be performing much better and I'm having a great time - mods feel free to close or lock this thread.

Notice from visiting the main site, our friends are also working on a bus simulator and a tram simulator. This is excellent news! Presumably no planned release date as yet.

If you want a quiet server on which to practice especially signalman mode, the Australian server had no one on it (apart from me!) earlier at 1230 GMT/UTC.

Will try that later Sean.

A steam era UK route would be nice, though. Imagine something like the Somerset & Dorset on a Summer Saturday, with all the signalboxes crewed by real players in MP. I'll take Evercreech Junction! Or the Far North line in Scotland, though three trains a day in each direction plus a few freights (depending on era) not that challenging. You would basically have to jump from signalbox to signalbox as signaller. Might work in SP as a means of providing dispatcher mode, though.

I would also like a summary of how many players are on a server before joining. Some last night and there were only a couple of people on.

I will but of course that will decrease the visual enjoyment. I really need a new PC but at current prices a new medium specification rig is > £1200. And I doubt my current box would benefit from a RTX 2060 even, especially with only 450w PSU.

This is the one problem with dispatcher on a real time MP game. Unlike driving there are often long gaps between trains with nothing to do, even on the main line. With something like SimSig, PC Rail or the old SIAM traffic control games, you can speed things up until the next action required. On the other hand an artificially busy timetable is only going to add to the issues at current bottlenecks like Lazy. And of course the quieter signalboxes are handy for learning the processes etc.

I find moving the camera whether in cab or the signalbox and be very laggy, even freezes for a few seconds. Intel I7 4770 @ 3.5Ghz (stock). Nvidia GTX 1650 4Gb Vram 24Gb System RAM. Mechanical HD.

Sorry I didn't note my location* but during my drive test yesterday evening, approaching a road over rail bridge I noticed a car jump up in the air and "cartwheel" several times before dropping back on the road. * If you can access my play log, it was about 20 minutes before I came off the game.

I've managed to send a train to Starzyny using the method Sean outlined in the SCS thread. As the next train on the single line is towards me I have tried to change the "slot" in advance but the only command I get a "ok" from is WBL (choose direction) which then doesn't allow me to do anything. Waiting to see what happens when Starzyny offers the train but this is definitely a case where some proper documentation would help. Will report back shortly on my success or otherwise. Okay. Once Starzyny requested slot I accepted via the telephone console. I then pressed WBL twice which reversed the arrow then PZK to finalise. Now got the train approaching on line. However maybe this is a process that ought to be simplified.

Devs seem to be silent on this question which is probably one of the main issues raised from the playtest so far.

Looking ahead but a question it is worth touching on... how hard will it be to create our own routes, on a scale ranging from Trainz (easy-ish) to MSTS/TSC (challenging but do-able) and Zusi (very hard)? Will there be support for DEM (terrain data) and mapping overlay? What 3D modelling packages and paint packages will be supported and exporters available? The signalling/dispatcher screens look very realistic, how hard will it be to set these up for a user created route? Will objects, textures etc. in the default route(s) be available to use in user created routes? Hopefully some of these questions can be answered.

With a route the length of the one being included, some sort of save game will be essential in the release/full version to complete a run over the entire route. Assuming the answer is "yes" will there be multiple save slots or just one like TSW? One of the things that puts me off Zusi 3 (other than the price) is no saving a run in progress.

Thanks Sean, I'll try that when next on. IMHO though it's something the game should be walking you through.